He was invited to play in the Alabama-Mississippi game, but could not immediately accept.

When he wasn’t able to make a commitment to the game, the selection committee simply moved on to another in-state player who was ready to commit to face the Mississippi All-Stars in Jackson, MS on March 21.

“If he had committed to play in the game and just pulled out if he couldn’t play then he’d likely be on the team right now,” Lane said.

That wasn’t what they wanted to do. It would disrupt the selection process and the talent level that was initially chosen to play in that game.

“I told him not to tell people he was going to play if there was a chance he might have to back out,” Lane said.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association and the Alabama High School Directors and Coaches Association could not comment on the selection process. They have a policy in place not to share selection information when it comes to the annual event.

Lane wanted to do things that way to not say one thing and then back out. He’s coached in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game before. He didn’t want to do that to the team.

“We were trying to do it that way,” Lane said. “He should have just told them ‘Yeah’ from the beginning and then just back out if he needed to.”

The interesting part is Coleman wasn’t sure if he’d been selected for the Jordan Brand Classic yet at the time he had to decide on playing in the Alabama game.